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Qunjong
The nation of Qunjong is a nation mostly on the peninsula of Jong, and which is ruled from the city of Qun, at the mouth of the Peninsula. They are insular, and while not reclusive, they do not welcome outsiders and are generally not well known to much of the rest of the continent. History Qunjong is a very old state. Nobody outside Qunjong is totally sure of the official founding of the state of Qunjong, but most Ricin scholars can trace it back at least to the founding of the Ricinian Crown. In reality, Qunjong was founded very soon after the fall of the Lemurian Empire. During the reign of the Lemurians, the Qunjongese were treated as a permanent underclass, as they tended to produce fewer gifted people capable of using magic than other human stock. After magic ceased to function, the Qunjongese quickly and brutally threw the Lemurians out of the city of Ozzymandias, which was renamed Qun. The Qunjongese quickly took the entire peninsula of Jong, but on attempting to push outward, they were stopped by the people who would eventually become the Mongrussians. The war between the two was long and brutal, and ended with the Qunjongese being pushed back to their fortress of Qunjong at the mouth of their peninsula. Qunjong, however, has proven to be impregnible since that time. While the magic of Lemuria no longer functioned, the enchantments on their walls proved powerful as ever, and the Qunjongese have used this fact to hold armies many times their size out of their domain. Qunjong has never again attempted conquest, and has very rarely allowed an outsider into their society, a reflection of their cultural fear of a return of their old oppressors, and the powers they commanded. Political System The Qunjong political system is a complex, bureaucratic mess ostensibly controlled by a Hereditary Emperor who acts as legislator, but for practical purposes controlled by various governors called Clanmasters, who each maintain their own enforcement agencies. While the emperess has police forces, the clans have control of the military and thus have true, final say. This has led to many internal conflicts. Each individual is born into a clan, and at birth, the symbol of his clan is tattooed on his or her back and is given an amulet showing their clan allegience. Each clan has a subset of laws and customs that members are expected to follow, as well as the edicts of the emperess. Every ten years there is a gathering of each member of the clans (Excepting those on military duty) and a vote is taken on who will be the governor, or "clanmaster" of that clan, as well as gaining a seat on the High Council, which is responsible for the exact method of enforcement of the edicts of the emperor, and sits as tribunal over government officials. This makes the legal system hopelessly bureaucratic, and effectively impossible to navigate, as each clan has its own seperate bureaucracy, as well as the central bureaucracy. Some, because of this, choose to excise themselves from their clan. They remove the tattooed skin on their backs, and so doing commit themselves to the emperors service only. They may no longer gain a licensce to do business, to marry, or in any sense to do anything other than to serve in the emperors police force. Philosophy Overview The Qunjongese are highly traditional and legalistic in character. While they are flexible and powerful thinkers, they do not question the dictates of their social and political masters. Religion The state religion of Qunjong is a combination of a bastardized version of the religion of Ricin and a form of spirit and ancestor worship. The religion states that the mother sleeps, and the father watches over us, but also states that the emperess is the direct descendant of their first daughter, and as such is a direct heir to the gods. They also state that on death, we join with the spirits of our clan and become the soul of our clan, and the souls of the clanless consumed by her and become her breath - a miasma keeping her asleep. The clanless are therefore honored for their sacrifice. Marriage The clans are organized matrilineally, and gender is a less pronounced social difference in Qunjong than it is in most of the other local cultures. Marriage between clans is handled by the husband joining the clan of the wife. The Qunjongese are highly homophobic - homosexuality is not tolerated or even discussed. The Emperess The ruler of Qunjong is always an empress - there has never been an emperor of Qunjong. The emperess is regarded as a semi-divine being who must be obeyed amongst the people, although the clanmasters feel less strongly on the issue generally, after being forced to deal with the emperess day in and day out. Category:Locations